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A well known yet fictitious Claudia is the beautiful, complex, seductive, deceptive child vampire in Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire. This stunning character is a complete contradiction to the name's meaning of "lame"!

My significant other and I were just discussing the perfection of Claudia in that, it isn't exceptionally common, and most people don't know more than two or three in real life. Yet, it's easily recognizable from literature. Plus, it's beautiful.

Claudia is timeless, elegant, and strong yet delicate. My first daughter will be given this name - it's classy and would suit both a child and an adult. Claudia was almost my name - as it is I was called Amelia, which is quite similar. I think Amelia and Claudia would make perfect names for twin girls!

-- Anonymous User 8/9/2006

My second name - but it drives me nuts getting people to pronounce it right. For me it's like KLOW-DIA not KLAW-DIA (my mother is German).

My name is Claudia. while growing up I've never met another girl named Claudia. Everyone I know, knows at least 1 - 2 Claudias. After 22 years of living I finally ran into another Claudia!

It's not a very popular name, and I appreciate that my parents named me Claudia. I didn’t get any bullying like other names: icky Vicky, creepy Carrie or things like that. So that’s a good point. My name is pronounced like the German site above. KLOW-dee-a. I personally really don't like the English KLAW-dee-a, reminds me of a big large claw and just sounds weird.

The meaning of the name is “lame, crippled one”. Not that I’m proud of that but I don’t exactly feel strong. People always tell me that I look so confident and strong. I actually feel like I’m too sensitive for this planet. I also put others first. I do everything for my friends, family and for the one I love. Almost to the point of insanity. So I guess this name suits me.

Unfortunately most people are having a hard time to keep my name intact. People seem to like to cut names. So my friends call me Clue. I’m grateful for that! I specifically asked them not to call me KLOW. In Dutch the part “Clau/KLOW” sounds like the word “klauw” which means in “claw”. People also love to stay on the W so that you get a kloWW-Dee-a. But whatever.

Apparently there is even a movie called “Claudia”. Never saw it though. I don’t have any bad experiences with this name. Too bad it isn’t used that often. I like it.

I love the name Claudia. It's beautiful, timeless, and has a cute nickname (Claud). However, the meaning is horrendous. Why is it that such beautiful, underused names have to have sad meanings? Hopefully, no one with the name Claudia (or anyone else) feels lame about themselves.

I have always loved my name (klaw-dee-a) and the meaning "lame" has nothing in common with any Claudia I have ever known. We all seem strong and independent like the name and yet somewhat soft. It's just beautiful! I don't think anyone can dislike Claudia and it's too strong to be shortened into a nickname which I like!

In my high school Spanish class, my teacher wanted us all to have Spanish names which only she would use to identify us. Claudia was mine, and I loved her Spanish pronunciation of it: "Clowdia". It made it sound so much more delicate and romantic.

My take on the meaning of this name goes a bit farther than simply "crippled". Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (10 BC – 54 AD) is no doubt the progenitor of the "textbook" meaning of this name. He is known to have had some kind of handicap -- a hump, or a club foot, or spina bifida, as examples.

As Caesar of Rome, Claudius was "an able administrator and a great builder of public works. His reign saw an expansion of the empire, including the conquest of Britain. He took a personal interest in the law, presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day" (thank you, wikipedia). So, I don't think it's fair to only focus on Claudius' physical limitations when, as a leader of men, he is renowned for his humanitarianism! It's sad, but predictable, that people tend to ruminate on the "ugly" when so much good is staring them in the face. So go ahead and name your daughters "Claudia" and let them know about the "real" meaning of their beautiful name!

I don't know why but this name reminds me of Santa Claus and made me to image a picture of obese geek or a goth teen every time I heard this name. Claudius is a much better name for mature white-haired men with beards, but still reminds me of Santa Claus.

Claudia has been one of my favorite names ever since I can remember. For me, it represents kindness and sweetness. I believe that it is suitable for young girls and older women alike, and therefore a good choice as all children grow up eventually.

I love this name! It is sophisticated and classic, and has a beautiful, feminine sound to it. It is neither too popular/common, nor too unusual, and it has consistently been in the top 1000 baby names for over a century. It is also a fairly 'international' name that can be easily pronounced in other languages. Personally, I prefer the ''klaw-dee-ah'' pronunciation to the ''klow-dee-ah'' pronunciation though.

-- Anonymous User 6/17/2009

I love the name Claudia. It has elegance, poise and beauty to it, and it's not too common. And I love Claudia Deheza from the band School of Seven Bells.

-- Anonymous User 7/13/2009

Claudia Donovan is one of the main characters in the new SyFy Series Warehouse 13.

When I gave birth to my first child sixteen years ago (a nine-pound baby who took 30 hours to deliver - I WISH I was exaggerating!) my OB nurse was a wonderful woman named Claudia who got me through the whole ordeal with amazing patience and kindness. I decided right then and there to give the baby her name. Since it turned out to be a boy, I hope she understands why we went with "Joseph" instead, but Nurse Claudia, if you happen to read this, I still think YOU ROCK!

I really love the sound and look of this name! I'm not to keen on the meaning. However my young niece is named this. I can't imagine anyone meeting her and not liking her immediately! So even with an unbecoming meaning, I have to say this name is awesome! I wouldn't hesitate to name your daughter this!

-- Anonymous User 6/18/2011

I love this name! I also spell it like Clodia because the English pronunciation claw-dee-ah sounds like some claw or sharp thingy. I like clo-dee-uh better. I never ever saw a Clodia before so it's rare and unique.

If you want to give a nickname to someone named Claudia u can call them clauda or clda.

-- Anonymous User 2/14/2014

Beautiful name, very unfortunate meaning. If the meaning of names are personally not that important though, it shouldn't deter anyone from using the name.

-- Anonymous User 5/4/2014

Skimming meaning of the name Claudia here from comments and I'm amazed that you don't know the 'pre-Claudius' Latin meaning of the name Claudia. My name is Claudia too and I learned it meant 'lame' at an early age. However, there was a pre-Claudius meaning which has apparently been lost. It's: Gentle lamb. I will say when someone asks what Claudia means - I'm a gentle lame lamb. It adds another layer, no? I have not liked the 'lame' meaning either and it's been rather odd that I have had a personal history of spraining my ankle throughout my life starting around age 19. So it may have become wish fulfillment.

Claudia Raurell Carulla is a talented, famous young architect from Barcelona, Catalunya. As her construction designs, she is rock solid and incredibly trustworthy. She also dresses well, dances well, loves her family, can drink more than an Irish bartender. In one word: She is the bomb!

I'm surprised that the "crippled" or "disabled" meaning is perpetuated on so many websites. From my understanding, the meaning of the name is unclear and linguists and historians debate it. The Claudii name preceded Claudius for some time, and many sources have questioned why a popular name would be in continued use with that meaning, including by freed slaves who had no reason to continue to use a name assigned to them by masters.

"Claudia" has the same linguistic root as "close" and "clause". It's likely the name's meaning is along the lines of "enclose", "surround", "encompass", or "envelop." In fact, some have argued that the meaning "crippled" derives from this other meaning, in the sense of "confined."

It's a shame that the rich linguistic history of this name isn't more widely known. Perhaps some would be more likely to use it if they knew the possible meanings of the name.